Released December 9, 2003 Length 32:00 Release date 9 December 2003 | Recorded January–August 2003 Artist The Offspring | |
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Studio Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California
Southern Tracks Recording, Atlanta, Georgia Producer Brendan O'Brien, The Offspring Splinter
(2003) Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
(2008) Label Sony Records International Genres Punk rock, Pop punk, Skate punk Similar The Offspring albums, Alternative rock albums | ||
Splinter is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band The Offspring, released on December 9, 2003. It was the first album the band released without drummer Ron Welty and also the first to have a Parental Advisory label on some album covers, even though all of their previous albums contain profanity.
Contents
- Production and marketing
- Album title
- Track listing
- Enhanced version
- Excluded tracks
- Critical reception
- The Offspring
- Additional musicians
- Production
- Artwork
- Songs
- References
Although not as successful as The Offspring's albums between Smash and Conspiracy of One, Splinter received gold certification two months after its release. The album received average reviews, but still sold reasonably well. It debuted at 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with around 87,000 copies sold in its first week. "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" were the only two singles to accompany this album. "Spare Me the Details" was also released as a single, but charted only in New Zealand.
Production and marketing
After spending nearly two years supporting the Conspiracy of One album, The Offspring began writing songs for Splinter in late 2002. Recording sessions for the album lasted from January to August 2003, making it the first time The Offspring had recorded an album for that long (although their next album, 2008's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, took more than a year to record).
Uncomfortable with the idea of bringing in an immediate replacement for Welty, the band opted to have session musician Josh Freese play drums for the recording of the album, with plans to find a full-time drummer upon the record's completion.
The crowd vocals in the opening track "Neocon" were recorded at Reading Festival in 2002 during the Offspring's set on the festival's main stage. Estimates based on the capacity of Reading Festival would suggest at least 50,000 people are in the crowd.
Album title
On April Fools' Day 2003, the album's title was jokingly announced as Chinese Democrazy, a reference to the repeatedly delayed Chinese Democracy album by Guns N' Roses. Holland quipped, "You snooze, you lose. Axl ripped off my braids, so I ripped off his album title."
The album's title comes from a lyric that appears in "Long Way Home".
This is the second and last new studio album to have the skull logo on their cover to date, excluding the Greatest Hits album. It later appeared on their 2012 single, Cruising California (Bumpin' in My Trunk).
Track listing
All tracks written by Dexter Holland .
Enhanced version
The Enhanced CD portion of the CD contains the following:
Excluded tracks
There was another song recorded for the album called "Pass Me By". The band felt that it was too heavy for the album, which is why it wasn't included on the disc. It was for a time rumored to appear on The Offspring's next album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, but as of its release, the track has yet to surface.
Critical reception
So far, the album, like Conspiracy of One, has been given a score of 60 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "mixed or average reviews".
Reviewers from sites such as Launch.com claimed Splinter was a welcome return to The Offspring's punk roots, citing songs such as "The Noose" and "Da Hui". The more mainstream songs, "Hit That" and "Spare Me the Details", were also praised.
AllMusic's Johnny Loftus also praised punk songs such as "Long Way Home" and "Lightning Rod", and claimed second single "Head Around You" was the album's standout. Like many fans though, he criticized songs such as "The Worst Hangover Ever" and "When You're in Prison", calling them 'throwaways'. PopMatters also praised "Head Around You", "Race Against Myself", and other heavier songs on the album. However, it also called "Worst Hangover Ever" 'idiotic' and again criticized "When You're In Prison" and "Neocon".
Another thing that was attacked was the album's short length, which was even shorter than Conspiracy of One. The review concluded that the album was "wasted potential", portraying it as merely average, in the same vein as many other critical reviews.
Splinter was also heavily praised for its lyrical content, said to take a considerable step up from the band's previous material. "Lightning Rod" is often used as an example of this. However, the album's ending of "Da Hui", which some were unhappy with, and joke song "When You're in Prison", which does not fit with the general album, were criticized as "not being a satisfying end to an already short album."
The Offspring
Additional musicians
Production
Artwork
Songs
1Neocon1:08
2The Noose3:21
3Long Way Home2:25